Any assistance appreciate Clutch replacement

Hey all i will be in early saturday (between 6 and 7 am) to replace the clutch in my sisters 2003 Saturn Vue. looks likes its a doozy of a job requiring most of the front suspension/steering to be removed. standard labor rate manuals say 8-hour charge. She’s a school teacher so I’m trying to help her as best i can. i plan on it taking 12-13 hours by myself. i have the new clutch kit, throwout bearing, and a new flywheel, plus tranny fluid ready to go.

if you want to stop and turn a wrench for 5 minutes or 4 hours its all appreciated thanks.

I work every saturday so I’m not available.

A couple of notes tho…in no particular order:

Disconnect the battery.

Is the engine a 4 cly or 6cly ? 2 wheel drive (hopefully) or all wheel drive? The driveline will greatly effect the time if takes to change the clutch - hopefully your sister’s Vue is the base model front wheel drive.
If the “book” says 8 hours - then it will probably take less than that if all goes well.

You should consider replacing the rear main seal - also called the rear crankshaft seal.

Have you taken the lift training?

Automotive has an engine support bar for this kind of work - on the metal shelves if needed.

If you watch a You Tube video - be sure to watch more than just one - as many of them contain errors or steps that you don’t need to do from “do it yourselfers” that don’t really know what does or does not need to be removed to repair a vehicle.

Properly used air tools will make the job go quicker. (proper being the key word)

Dropping the sub frame partially or all the way will make your job much easier.

Above all be safe!

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Thanks, and yes i have taken the lift training and done some other work on there.

the sub-frame looks like a critical piece to remove.

i didn’t think of the rear-main seal thats a great idea since the transmission will be gone.

its a 4-cyl 2-wheel drive.

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Well i finished, 10am to 1:30ish am. thanks to member Andy for lending a hand, A big thanks to Chuck and David for some great pointers and a second thanks to David for installing the clutch and flywheel while i made a run for parts.

the community and willingness for others to help out is always amazing. thanks everyone

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